Page 132 of Savage King

"On the count of racketeering, how does the jury find the defendant?"

"Guilty."

Carlos's gaze snaps from the jurors to Lambert; the message is clear: send me to prison and die. Scarlet stiffens.

"It's okay. I have men waiting for your dad to take him to safety as soon as court adjourns," I assure her.

Carlos grows visibly angrier; his body goes rigid. It’s beautiful. It’s balm to my soul. And then he snaps, "You dirty son of a bitch!"

He lunges against the desk in front of him, ignoring his lawyer, who is trying to pull him back as he attempts to get around the obstacle. Security guards rush forward; Lambert is pounding his gravel.

"You're dead, you hear? DEAD!" Carlos screams while security guards muscle his arms behind his back and secure a pair of handcuffs.

Scarlet's hands around me tighten, and my hand draws soothing circles up and down her back. This is the moment I've been waiting for. Carlos is exactly where I want him.

"Quiet down, or I will have you muzzled," Judge Lambert's voice sounds out over the ruckus.

Soon, Dad, I promise. Soon, he'll join you, and you can have your own revenge, I whisper, still staring at a furious Carlos. A few drops of sweat make their way down his bulging neck. His chest heaves, rises, and falls violently with every heavy breath he takes. A sense of vengeance and victory sears through me when I see the moment the truth sinks in. The moment it hits him that this is real. Alain’s camera leans in, giving me the perfect view.

Pure, unfiltered terror hits Carlos—rightfully fucking placed. I will ensure that the last few weeks of his life before Lambert announces his sentence will be filled with terror and fear.

"Thank you," Judge Lambert turns to the jury. "I will announce the sentence in three weeks."

He says a few more words to the jurors, thanking them for their service,blablabla, but I tune it all out, just reveling in the knowledge that my father will finally get his justice.

A few days later…

I finally see my dad. After weeks of longing, being held in his embrace feels surreal.

"I missed you, angel," he says, kissing my forehead.

"I missed you, too." I kiss his cheeks and pull tighter against his familiar chest. A place that has always given me comfort and security. The only place during my fucked-up childhood where I felt safe.

"I don’t understand why DeLuna didn't just drop you off at my house," he says after we finally let go of one another. We're in Antonio's office; I suppose it's full confession time.

"Why would I drop my wife off at your place?" Antonio asks, and I shoot darts at him with my eyes. We had an agreement: I would get to tell my father the news in a sensitive way.

"Wife?" Dad looks confusedly from me to Antonio.

"We got married," Antonio confirms, and I try to burn him again with my eyes, but he ignores me.

"Married?"

"I'm sorry, Daddy, I wanted to tell you, but over the phone?—"

"Married?" Now, Dad is nearly shouting. He strides toward Antonio. "If you forced my daughter?—"

"No, he didn't, Daddy." I grab his arm, but he pulls loose. I have no idea what he's thinking, but I'm worried he's going to get hurt. Physically, this time.

Antonio crosses his arms over his chest. "Nobody forced her into anything."

My dad whips around, staring at me, trying to read my face. "If you're in some kind of trouble, I can get you out, sweetheart. I swear."

Shit, this is not going like I wanted it to at all. I glare one more time at Antonio, but he just looks smug. Asshole.

"Come here, Dad, come sit." I guide him to the sofa and sit right next to him, taking his hands in mine. "I'm sorry, this is not how I wanted to tell you." I pause to glare at Antonio again, something that doesn't escape my dad and actually seems to relax him somewhat. "After Antonio saved me and we spent some time together, we… we fell in love," I confess. Saying it out loud, I realize how ludicrous the story sounds. I mean, we fell inlove within days. Hard. Harder than some people who have been in a relationship for weeks or months.

"Okay," my dad nods. "But why marriage? I mean, don't people usually date for a while?"

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